THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505260516
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The State Board of Education ended months of debate by voting on Thursday to adopt national education goals and seek federal funding under the controversial ``Goals 2000'' plan.
The 4-3 vote immediately was made moot by Gov. George F. Allen, who said he fears federal encroachment and will direct State School Superintendent William C. Bosher Jr. to apply for an extension of the June 30 application deadline instead.
The stalemate leaves Virginia and New Hampshire as the only two states that have not signed on to the ``Goals 2000'' education reform plan. Forty-seven states have applied for funds, and a 48th - Wyoming - has indicated that it intends to do so.
Citing an attorney general's opinion that both the state board and the governor must approve any application, Bosher said he will immediately seek the extension requested by Allen. In an informal discussion earlier this week, he was assured by federal officials that they ``would not say `no' out of hand'' to such a request, Bosher said.
At stake is about $1.8 million in federal funds that are due Virginia during the first year of the plan. Earlier estimates were that the state would get an additional $12 million in the second year, but Bosher said Thursday that revisions have put the second-year figure at $7 million to $8 million.
Allen allies argued that the ``Goals 2000'' plan is in flux, and that Virginians should not sign on until that are sure of what they're agreeing to. The potential first-year loss of funds amounts to ``less than a penny per day per student,'' the governor wrote in a letter Wednesday to School Board Chairman James P. Jones, a former Democratic lawmaker from Abingdon.
``As you know, there are widespread concerns, many of which I share, that the `Goals 2000' program represents a new and unprecedented level of potential federal intrusion into state and local responsibility for and control over public education,'' Allen wrote.
Advocates, including Jones, countered that the program is a benign attempt to focus nationwide attention on such goals as safer schools, more parental involvement, higher student achievement and improved teacher education. Rather than trying to usurp local authority, the program stresses state and local decision-making, they said.
``We're holding back the possibility of progress,'' said board member Alan L. Wurtzel, noting that supporters include the state Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Business Council, the Virginia School Board Association, the Virginia Education Association and the legislative committee of the Virginia PTA.
Also speaking in support of the program Thursday were representatives of the the PTA at Taylor Elementary School in Norfolk and the Portsmouth Council of PTAs. Opposing the plan were representatives of the Virginia Taxpayers Association and the Virginia Eagle Forum, which describes itself as a grassroots public policy group on the family.
Board member Michelle Easton of Reston, an Allen appointee, warned that federal programs may start out quietly, but that the gradual trend is ``to interfere, to control, to bully.''
State Sen. Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg, who was accepting an award from the board, summed up his opposing attitude with a touch of sarcasm. By applying for an extension, Virginia is implying that ``the 48 other states participating in `Goals 2000' are dumb as hell and Virginia is very smart and judicious.'' by CNB